


The Achilles Project AU

by oldgodbaby



Series: The Achilles Project [1]
Category: Red vs. Blue
Genre: Achilles Project AU, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-08-07
Updated: 2014-09-25
Packaged: 2018-02-12 06:25:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 6,921
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2098953
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/oldgodbaby/pseuds/oldgodbaby
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Set in the period preceding Felix and Locus’s recruitment by Control. AU where all things are basically the same except that our two favourite mercenaries happen to be two members of a genetic experiment that has rendered them largely immortal for all intents and purposes - they can’t be killed by anyone but each other.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Pressure Point

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by a post on Tumblr, as most things are, the idea has now gotten thoroughly out of hand.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The pressure point was something minuscule, hard to discover and even harder to actually hit, hidden somewhere on every Immortal’s body – in a different place for each soldier. That said, in recognition of the fact that absolute power corrupts absolutely, the soldiers had been created in pairs. Every two would have their pressure points in the same location, and, as a result, would have their lives in each other’s hands.

Hatred prevailed over everything else.

“Did you see that? One shot. Straight hit. I. Am. Amazing.”

“Shooting down a deserting soldier is nothing to be proud of,” Locus’s tone was even and calm, but his fists were clenching and unclenching mechanically at his sides. No one had ever tested his self control quite so much. Not that Felix was paying any attention.

“What d’ya mean? It was a fucking moving target! Anyone else would have missed him! Even you could have missed him!” Locus’s head snapped straight towards his partner’s fidgeting form but Felix did not even pause for breath. “But I didn’t.”

“Your ego is going to cost us a mission in the future, Felix, and you’d better pray I don’t find you when it does.”

He scoffed. The loud, smirky brat scoffed with a self-confidence that couldn’t be faulted. After all, he was one of the elite. One of the Immortals: genetically engineered super-soldiers who could survive anything, any form of attempts on their lives, as long as their pressure points weren’t harmed in any way. The pressure point was something minuscule, hard to discover and even harder to actually hit, hidden somewhere on every Immortal’s body – in a different place for each soldier. That said, in recognition of the fact that absolute power corrupts absolutely, the soldiers had been created in pairs. Every two would have their pressure points in the same location, and, as a result, would have their lives in each other’s hands.

But it turned out that when it comes down to it, no one really wants to live alone. It had become a prevailing trend for Immortals to seek out their so called ‘other halves’ in an effort to protect one another. It was very much the opposite of what the project that had created them had intended.

Locus had occasionally considered the possibility of finding his other half. It would make him stronger, more efficient, if nothing else.

One thing was certain, though. Felix was not the soldier he was looking for.

Perhaps it was for the best.

He was safer this way.

Or so he thought.

Until he saw Felix bare, sprawled on his stomach across his bed, fast asleep.

It had been a stressful day, and Locus’s partner hadn’t made it any easier. If anything, he had been louder than ever before. So the kiss had largely been a harmless, albeit aggressive ploy to shut him up for a minute. But one thing had led to another and after a considerable amount of tugging, pulling, swearing and stumbling, they had somehow ended up on Felix’s bed. Had Locus not seen him fighting, had he not known what the smirky bastard was capable of, he might have been worried that the force he had used might have broken the the poor kid. He had been certain it wasn’t possible though. Certain all the way up to that point.

Locus was smoking by the windowsill, weighing up the consequences of his actions, planning out his next move, when he accidentally glanced in Felix’s direction; he had intended to throw something at his head to stop him from snoring, and that was when he noticed it. There, at the very edge of the bastard’s tailbone, something inconspicuous, akin to a birthmark to anyone who didn’t know exactly what to look for. 

Locus stepped closer to the bed. Absentmindedly, he traced a hand over his own pressure point, low on the small of his back. Felix stirred and woke, groggy and annoyed. 

“Were you watching me sleep, you sick creep?”

“Don’t mess up on our next mission, Felix. Trust me on this one.”

Hatred prevailed over everything else.


	2. Coccyx

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some questions never leave you alone.
> 
> How had he not seen it, noticed it, or even suspected it after fighting at his side for so long? How had the fact that they had drifted together seemingly by chance not set off any alarms in his head? How much longer would he be able to tune out Felix’s voice before he put a gun to the bastard’s tailbone and shot a bullet through his back without warning?

Some questions never leave you alone.

How had he not seen it, noticed it, or even suspected it after fighting at his side for so long? How had the fact that they had drifted together seemingly by chance not set off any alarms in his head? How much longer would he be able to tune out Felix’s voice before he put a gun to the bastard’s tailbone and shot a bullet through his back without warning?

“Man, this is gonna be fuuuun!”

“For the tenth time today, Felix, expressing your amoral sentiments about our mission is not an appropriate use of the COM. Neither is boasting, or for that matter, any kind of input that doesn’t help us with the task at hand.”

“You keep referring to this as a mission and I admire your dedication Locus but at some point you’re going to have to face up to the fact that we’re really just doing this for –”

“Shut. Up.”

“Make me.”

Locus knew that his silence meant more to Felix than any sort of response – which would have just incited him further – so he allowed the heavy implication of the things he left unsaid weigh down the other mercenary into a reluctant sort of submission.

The plan was fairly simple. The two mercenaries had located an old UNSC base that retained some weaponry and equipment from the war in its armoury. The base was fairly small and the equipment was far from high-level, but it could be sold and it was worth something and it had been a slow couple of months for the two of them lately. The few soldiers guarding the base were poorly trained and hadn’t seen any action in a long time so they could have been taken down easily and quickly but Felix wanted to be dramatic and Locus felt like indulging him.

The bastard insisted on getting in through the front door by allowing Locus to shoot him and subsequently convincing their targets that he had gotten caught in the middle of a conflict between two separate factions of the Covenant forces. The fighting seemed to be quickly getting out of hand and there was a high chance that one of the factions would happen upon this base, which would most assuredly mean that they were likely to ignore the peace treaty in favour of self-preservation so wouldn’t it be a good idea to seal down the base just to be on the safe side?

Locus infiltrated the base unnoticed while Felix’s theatrics continued, just before it was put on temporary lockdown, sealing all of the soldiers in with the two of them.

Felix took great pleasure in pointing out just how similar their plan of action had been to shooting fish in a barrel.

“And yet it could have been carried out faster, more efficiently, and less like the whole object of this mission was killing a handful of soldiers.”

But Felix was too busy taking inventory to pay attention to Locus. Instead, he waved his hand noncommittally in his partner’s general direction while counting up and grouping the various types of weapons and ammunition.

Locus stepped up to his partner, pistol in hand, and set the edge of the barrel against the top of Felix’s spine. The latter man did not react in the slightest as the pistol made a slow descent, scraping against his armour. That is, until it stopped and was pressed with a serious conviction against Felix’s pressure point.

His expression wasn’t visible as he still had his helmet on, but Locus had never seen him so tense or still before. So quiet.

“What are you doing, Locus?”

“You challenged me earlier, remember? Why, is there something wrong with this particular spot on your body?”

Felix glanced at the other mercenary over his shoulder.

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” the smirk was audible. “No. I just wanted to know if you’re gonna keep tickling me with that fucking pistol or if you want to make yourself useful and help me get our spoils organized properly.”

Locus’s finger twitched over the trigger. He let the pistol drop. He’d killed enough people for one day.


	3. Friendly Fire

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Embellishments are not lies, Felix.”
> 
> And there it was. The straight-backed mercenary’s voice cracked when he said his partner’s name. He had pushed him to the limit. But he could push him further. It was one of his favourite pastimes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would advise anyone reading this to also head over to Kalgalen (if you haven't already) and read her contribution to this AU. You can thank me later. 
> 
> Also this title is an inside joke with myself because I was listening to a song with the same name (by Tyler James in case you really wanted to know) while I wrote this.

“Aaaand there’s the distress signal.”

“They’re civilians. Innocents.”

Felix couldn’t quite make out his partner’s tone. Was he apprehensive? Did he feel guilty? Was he just stating facts they were both already well aware of? No, that last one didn’t seem like him at all. Still, it would have been out of character for Felix not to be a complete asshole about it.

“We are getting paid.”

Normally, silence simply meant that Locus had received the message but didn’t think replying to it was worth his time. That said, Felix had learned to read the silences –a fact he wouldn’t admit to anyone even on pain of death.

“It was an order, Locus. We were briefed; we took up the mission anyway. You’re not going to turn your back on a direct order, are you?”

Locus only paused for a beat but Felix could feel his heart hammering against his chest. He was using most of his energy to keep himself from lashing out at the man next to him. He started fidgeting again, as he often did. He wasn’t sure, but he thought Locus might have picked up on it.

“Right, let’s get a move on.”

“Ugh, finally!”

Simple. Clean. Effortless. As it would be when your targets are largely incapable of putting up any resistance whatsoever. Yet the equipment was all there. All they had to do now was wait for extraction then take their money and move on. To Felix it was worth a few minutes of…whatever this had been.

So there was something in the concept behind this job that screamed unprofessional. It was outside the lines, a kick in the face of the art of war.

“Whatever, the art of war can suck my dick. It’s screwed me over enough times anyway.”

“I’m assuming you’re talking to yourself again?”

So Locus might not have been happy with what they had done. Not that it was clear from his tone.

“Whatever Locus, you can –” Felix stopped himself before he got himself into another one of those awkward silences he wouldn’t be able to live down. Instead he took his helmet off and rolled his neck lazily.

“You know what,” he continued “never mind. Let’s just think about what we’re gonna do with the money. A little bit of proper ‘shore leave’ might be nice,” he genuinely curled two fingers on his right hand around the term in mock quotation marks.

“No.”

“What do you mean ‘no’?,” cue exaggerated gestures backed by shrugging shoulders from Felix, “you don’t have to come with, it wasn’t an invitation, you don’t have to be there, Locus.”

“The last time we…took a break…as you put it, you gave away vital information about who we are and what we do to a UNSC soldier who also happened to be on shore leave. We were almost caught.”

“But we weren’t.”

Locus turned towards his partner. “Not a risk I’m willing to take twice.”

“Oh come on, it was just some harmless flirting, how was I supposed to know –”

“You could have lied.”

“I did lie.”

“Embellishments are not lies, Felix.”

And there it was. The straight-backed mercenary’s voice cracked when he said his partner’s name. He had pushed him to the limit. But he could push him further. It was one of his favourite pastimes.

“You know what? I think you’re just jealous.”

He waited until Locus replied with a deadpan “Jealous?” before continuing.

“Yeah, you know, I mean she was pretty I suppose, so I don’t blame you if you feel a bit threa–”

He may have heard it. Of course he’d heard it. Still, he didn’t process the sound of the gunshot until blood had started trickling down between his eyes and across his face. There was a telltale dampness at the back of his head.

So maybe taking his helmet off around a trigger happy maniac then proceeding to anger him hadn’t been his best idea. That didn’t mean he wasn’t angry. It didn’t stop him from grabbing his knife and lunging at Locus.

The process of regeneration was rapid, as it had to be to prevent completely rash and unnecessary actions like this one from actually killing one of the Immortals. Otherwise the name wouldn’t have carried much weight. Nonetheless, a gunshot to the head still slowed down cognitive processes for a few seconds. Enough time, in this case, for Felix to slip up, giving Locus a chance to easily evade the attack.

The loud mercenary lost his balance, tripped and felt his legs give way beneath him. He fell unceremoniously, face first on the ground. He decided to wait until he could no longer feel the wound before he made any effort to get up.

“You can do better than that, can’t you?” Locus’s feet stepped into view.

“You just shot me in the head. No warning. Just shot me!”

“Would it help if I put another bullet in there?”

If anyone had asked him, Felix would have readily admitted that he had never imagined that would be the first question he would reply to with silence.

“That was a genuine inquiry.” Locus continued, “I am curious.”

With the wound now no more than a painful memory, Felix decided to reply to this question slightly more aggressively. He got back on his feet and this time his attack proved harder to read. Locus had to make an obvious effort to block it. In a few seconds he had regained his speed, his skill. A few more seconds and he had managed to injure Locus. It was nothing more than a minor injury at most, but Felix took his victories where he could find them.

“Felix, stop.”

“Why should I? Worried I might actually kill you?”

“Extraction should have been here by now, but the comms are completely silent.”

A truce was immediately called in favour of investigating what was going on. Cautiously, weapons at the ready, the two mercenaries stepped outside of the base, making their way slowly towards the agreed landing site. There was pelican waiting for them, but so was a rather large number of soldiers in steel armour, which they didn’t recognise.

Locus almost instinctually fell in behind Felix, placing them in a back-to-back formation. It wasn’t something he’d ever done before, and as they weren’t completely surrounded it seemed…unnecessary. 

“What are you doing?”

“Shut up, Felix.”

One of the soldiers stepped forward.

“So you’re the two mercenaries who gunned down a group of unarmed civilians.”

“We’re a lot more than that,” Felix was, as always, loud and boisterous.

“I bet you are. There’s someone who wants to see you. They’ve got a mission that’s more of…your calibre.”


	4. Moving Target

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Felix noticed him immediately and simultaneously regretted listening to Haynes at all. He wasn’t going to openly complain about this turn of events – merely because this really wasn’t the place for it – but he was extremely sceptical about whether fireteam Alpha had really been closest to their position. Never mind, he could suck it up and deal with Locus if it meant getting them out of there. He was a professional, after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was going to be a standalone fic, part of the larger series of the AU. I then realized that this story doesn't really make any sense without the other chapters, so here you go, have a 'flashback' chapter, set during the war.

He didn’t need reinforcements. Not when he was the best marine the UNSC had at its disposal.

“Felix, we need backup.”

All he needed was his equipment, his amazing skills and his striking good looks.

“Sir?”

“Felix!”

“What?” he reared on his team with unwavering ferocity.

Three members.

Haynes, great tactician, soft spoken and disciplined, but also least likely to take vague orders without questioning them extensively. Most likely to raise her voice at Felix. Extremely likely to be seen carrying a heavy weapon, whether or not the situation expressly called for one. Unofficial second-in-command.

Boyers, most likely part of the team because he was loud, boisterous and charismatic. Most likely to be in sync with Felix. Extremely likely to look after himself first and foremost and thus not take sides during arguments unless they involved him directly.

Lamb, the honorary rookie who flinched whenever Felix lost his temper, and still called him ‘Sir’. Most likely had the best hand-to-hand combat skills of the team. Extremely likely to be the most reliable in close quarters as well as a variety of situations where missions didn’t go as planned.

Like right now. Right now was one of those times.

Fireteam Kappa had been sent out to scout the area, gather intel and report back without further incident. There was to be no direct engagement with any hostile forces unless such engagement was absolutely inevitable. The idea was to not attract any attention, for the Covenant forces to not realize UNSC forces were keeping tabs on them. Felix’s approach had been sound – and by all accounts cautious, which was something that never happened – but it quickly became clear that they had stepped into a trap that had been set long before their plan had been formulated.

In a matter of minutes after their deployment they were surrounded and being gunned down from almost all sides. Felix’s HUD started lighting up with motion trackers faster than he could register them. Regardless of Haynes’ enthusiasm with the fuel rod gun she had grabbed off an Elite Lamb had taken down, there was only so much they could do before they were overpowered. They had no chance, and falling back wasn’t even an order Felix had to consciously give. The team stationed themselves behind a natural outcropping, which provided fairly limited cover, and wasn’t likely to be an efficient hiding place for very long.

“Felix, with all due respect we need to call in and ask for reinforcements or we’re never getting out of here alive.”

“Thank you Haynes, although I figured that one out all by myself before you pitched in. Command, this is fireteam Kappa.”

“Come in, Kappa.”

“The op didn’t quite go to plan. We faced an ambush.”

“I can see that. I could send in the closest team if you need backup. Will that be necessary?”

When Felix failed to reply, Haynes intervened.

“Yes, Command, that would be helpful.”

“I was going to say yes,” something heavier than indignation marred Felix’s tone.

“I apologise, _sir_ , I just wasn’t sure when it would happen.”

“I don’t think we have time for this right now,” Boyers intervened, attracting their attention to the quickly advancing Covenant troops.

So that was the answer to the question of how long their cover would hold.

“Shit, Hunters!”

And that was the answer to the question of just how screwed they were. That is, until one of the Hunters toppled over unceremoniously after being shot down from behind.

Felix noticed him immediately and simultaneously regretted listening to Haynes at all. He wasn’t going to openly complain about this turn of events – merely because this really wasn’t the place for it – but he was extremely sceptical about whether fireteam Alpha had really been closest to their position. Never mind, he could suck it up and deal with Locus if it meant getting them out of there. He was a professional, after all.

There was little verbal communication between the teams because it seemed none of the members of Alpha were particularly inclined to use any words beyond those that were absolutely necessary. Felix wondered if this was something Locus had indoctrinated into them or if it they had been handpicked specifically for their shared quality.

Yet they got the job done. Together the teams secured the area sufficiently well that it was safe to send in a pelican for extraction. Or at least it seemed safe until the phantoms appeared.

Alpha may have been ready to keep going, but Kappa wasn’t. Felix intervened.

“We can’t keep engaging, it’s only going to make the situation worse. We need to get out of here.”

“If they follow us to the extraction point we’ll get shot down,” Locus replied, not paying a great amount of attention to Felix. “I’m assuming you have another plan of action?”

“As a matter of fact, I do,” Felix said, “get the team out and I’ll act as a decoy.”

Locus stared Felix down from behind his helmet.

“You?”

“Me.”

“On your own?”

“I don’t want to be responsible for anyone else. Why, are you worried I’ll take all the glory when we get back? That the little competition between us will be over? I probably should have told you this before; I never lose.”

“I see. Alright then, you’re welcome to get yourself shot,” Locus proceeded to address the teams in his usual monotone “You heard him; Felix has offered to take one for the team, fall back!”

His team may have hesitated but no one verbalised any complaints. There was no point in attempting to argue with Felix. Haynes handed her leader the fuel rod gun then fell back with the rest of the group, while Felix sprinted out into the open and proceeded to aim straight for the phantoms. He had to make a conscious effort to be as much of a target and a nuisance as possible. While it came easily to him in casual interaction, and although he was well aware that his chances of getting killed were slim to none, getting shot would still hurt.

And it did hurt.

He watched his shields go down first and fought an impulse to run for cover.

“Hey, over here you over-glorified can of worms!” 

He counted three separate bullet wounds made at short intervals. There may have been more but those were the bullets with no discernible exit wounds. He would heal, in fact he could already feel his skin beginning to knit up, but there would be scars. He hated scars.

Locus’s voice thundered over the COM.

“Both teams are accounted for, Felix. Retreat, if possible.”

“Easy for you to say.”

Felix received no reply. But he wasn’t willing to acquire any more scars either. He made use of the two grenades he had at his disposal and made a run for it.

Lamb was the first to greet him.

“Sir, are you okay? You’ve been injured!”

Felix uncharacteristically shrugged off the attention.

“I’ll live.”

***

“Hey, Locus!”

After being reprimanded by Command for taking an unnecessary risk – not because of the risk on his life, but because of the high chance that someone would have been made aware of his _situation_ –and a fake trip to the medbay, Felix needed some stress relief. He needed to piss someone else off. Besides, outside of their occasional, malicious exchanges on the battlefield, he had never actually had a chance to speak to Locus.

He was one of a handful of soldiers on the ship, Felix included, who had taken on an alias. But what species of asshole adopted the name of his armour?

The taller marine turned as his name was called out, brows furrowed and back straight.

Felix took in the dark skin and even crew cut, the tense jaw and stoic features and his eyes widened involuntarily.

“Something wrong?”

Felix shook his head. He also completely lost track of what he had been planning to say. So instead he led with:

“No, I just – just wanted to thank you for saving our asses back there, you didn’t have to.”

“I was following a direct order.”

“Yeah, but...yeah, okay.”

As he was turning to leave, Locus continued:

“You should be a bit more careful next time.”

And just like that, things started looking up.

Felix cocked his head to one side as he stepped closer to Locus. Closer and closer until he could feel the other man’s breath on his face. Locus straightened, evidently completely uncomfortable with the situation.

“Oh, should I?”

“What are you doing?”

The shorter soldier silently bit his lower lip in response without breaking eye contact, finally allowing a rueful laugh to bubble up through him when he couldn’t hold it in anymore.

“Heh. Just winding you up.”


	5. The infected mushroom one

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Oh come on! We’ve known each other for years now – and we’ve gotten more closely acquainted recently – but you’ve still never taken your armour off completely. What am I supposed to think? What could you possibly be hiding?”
> 
> This also happens to be the chapter where the story gets back to the core conflict and the plot moves along a little bit. Yeah, folks, exciting stuff is happening.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just in case everyone is super confused, this continues on from chapter 3, as chapter 4 was technically a filler.

He waited for the door to open with a massive grin on his face.

“Felix.”

Had it been anyone else, a long list of expletives would have preceded Felix’s name in that phrase. But Locus rarely swore on a general basis. Factor in anger, and the chances decreased dramatically.

“What? When did you become a prude?”

Locus walked into the cramped quarters they had been assigned on The Exodus Flare, keeping his eyes anywhere but on his very naked partner. 

“It’s impractical. We don’t know how dangerous these people are.”

Felix snorted.

“Very dangerous; wasn’t that why we accepted the offer in the first place?”

“And yet you forfeit personal safety in favour playing your idiotic little game.”

“Hey, I’ve still got my knife on me!” Felix said, twirling his weapon between his fingers as he did so. “And for the millionth time Locus, the dictionary definition of immortal hasn’t changed in the past hour.”

Locus shot him a disdainful glare. 

“Oh come on! We’ve known each other for years now – and we’ve gotten more closely acquainted recently – but you’ve still never taken your armour off completely. What am I supposed to think? What could you possibly be hiding?”

“Put your armour back on. All of it. We’ve been called in for a briefing.”

If there was any method of making Felix take something seriously, telling him it was an order from a superior was it. He began dressing frantically.

“Are we being sent out on our own?”

“Do you want to work with a team that are potentially less skilled than you are and more likely to get killed?”

“I don’t want to work with you but there we go.”

“Then why are we here?”

Felix stopped while in the act of putting his helmet back on, leaving him to hold it a few inches  
above his head as he stared at Locus.

“Money, power, fame,” Felix said, gesturing with small movements of his head, “y’know, the cool stuff.”

He slid his helmet on to end the conversation.

***

“So what are we doing here again?”

“You were with me in the briefing room not half an hour ago—”

“That was a rhetorical question, you stuck up dick,” Felix paused to bask in the glory of his choice of words.

“I’m going to shoot you,” Locus replied, “again. Several times over this time.”

The mercenaries had been tasked with retrieving technology of an alien origin that had been discovered through official means. Control, their new client, had intercepted several transmissions relating to the location of the technology and considered this relatively simple mission as good a test of adaptability and skill as any.

It was unclear whether or not the UNSC had sent any teams to retrieve the item yet, but the order Felix and Locus had been given was not to engage anyone they met unless absolutely necessary. They were tasked with convincing any present marines or scientists that they had jurisdiction over the technology and were allowed to take it. Either that or cause a big enough distraction to allow them to take the item and leave unnoticed.

Locus wasn’t particularly comfortable with the specifics of the mission and the restrictions placed on him, while Felix was more preoccupied with the fact that they were wading through a jungle. He wasn’t big on greenery. Or nature of any description.

“Alright then, why am I walking in front?”

Because I don’t trust you, Locus thought, but what he said was:

“Because cutting through things excites you.”

A short, derisive laugh escaped out of Felix’s helmet.  
“So you’re indulging me,” he stopped, forcing Locus to mimic the movement. “Does that mean I’ll have to pay for this later?”

“That depends. Are you going to be the sole reason why this mission doesn’t go to plan?”

“Oh, fuck off.”

Felix kept quiet after that, for fear of being ridiculed again, until they reached the site. 

“The waypoint says we’re in the right place.”

Yet there were no other signs that that they were in fact where they were supposed to be. 

“No crater, no signs of damage to the environment,” Felix almost sounded disappointed. 

“The instructions we were given didn’t suggest it had crashed in the area, just that this was where we would find it.”

“Yeah but you kind of,” the shorter man twirled one of his hands in the air, “expect it.”

“Just keep moving.”

“Where, Locus, where do you want me to go? It’s a fucking patch of ground like any other!” 

Felix had turned around and was walking backwards as Locus advanced silently on him. 

“No seriously,” he continued, louder than before, “point me in the direction of this magical -”

That was when they fell. Had he not been so close to his partner, Locus might have been standing on the edge of the trap, looking down on the loud bastard in a very literal representation of the way he regarded Felix. Yet by the time he felt his left foot give way it was too late to try to maneuver himself out of his predicament. He focused his energy on landing on his feet. Felix fell on his back, legs flailing unprofessionally in midair. So there was at least one silver lining. 

“Not a word, Locus.”

“Felix.”

“What?”

“What have we landed in?”

Their target was there, at Locus’s feet; a set of sniper rifles of alien origin, allegedly more powerful than any of the weapons humans currently had at their disposal. But they were surrounded by a plant species Locus did not recognise. Taking a few steps back, he attempted to get his bearings but disturbed whatever it was they were in fact standing in. With a wet squelch, something slid underneath his armoured feet and a greenish grey cloud of smoke floated up, enveloping the dark, narrow trap the mercenaries found themselves in. 

Felix lunged for one of the weapons but the only result of that decision was to cause further disturbance. 

Locus’s display began flashing erratic warnings at him.

“Whatever this is, it’s burning through the armour.”

“How is that even possible? Control, we need extraction; now!”

“What, giving up so quickly?” Locus grabbed the other rifle and pushed past Felix, moving slowly but checking for any crevices that could provide the necessary grip for scaling. All of the edges of the trap were completely smooth. The hard-packed dirt could be brushed away with little effort, revealing steel walls that joined together, without any edges, in a cylindrical shape. 

Further inspection of the site revealed corpses, both human and alien, that had been overrun by whatever type of fungus was presently attacking them. 

“As competitive as I am, I’m not waiting around to see how quickly this smoke is going to eat through my skin. I mean, don’t get me wrong, pain can be a helluva lot of fun, but this isn’t the time.”

“It’s a cloud of spores,” Locus said, distractedly.

“What?”

“Report, Felix. Is the objective complete?”

“We found the weapons, if that’s what you’re asking, but we’re stuck in an artificial trap here and we don’t have a lot of time for pleasantries and conversation. If you actually want these things you’ll need to get us out.”

“I don’t need to do anything, Felix.”

“We’re the best mercs you’ve got right now, I don’t think you want to take your chances with letting us die.”

After a few minutes of silence, when the realization that he wouldn’t be getting any other response from Control kicked in, Felix did what was in his nature to do; he punched the wall. 

“Does that make you feel any better?” 

Locus still sounded incredibly calm, more concerned with assessing the increasing damage to his armour than paying attention to his partner’s antics. 

“No, but you know what would? Watching you writhe in pain!”

“Drop the act, Felix. There’s no reason why Contol would suspect anything. It is more likely that we’re being considered expendable which is an advantage.”

“Not if we don’t get out of here!”

“We are expendable - the weapons are not. Relax.”

Extraction did eventually arrive, although the only thing it proved, in Felix’s opinion, was that Control had a longer metaphorical stick up their ass than Locus. He wondered if it made walking difficult. 

*** 

“I’m sorry sir, but you’re going to have to take everything off. That’s...not a problem, is it?”

Locus spared a glance over the shoulder of the soldier addressing him to the naked fool standing a few steps away, arms crossed and wide smile plastered on. He couldn’t risk the questions that would be raised if he refused to go through with the decontamination process. That, and he could already feel the spores that had managed to make their way onto his skin borrowing through. Besides, how much attention did Felix actually pay to detail?

He stripped down and stepped into the decontamination area, keeping Felix in front of him and his own back away from Felix’s line of vision for as long as possible. Nevertheless, the moment they were required to face front and stand side by side, Felix felt well within his rights to lean backwards ever so slightly and look at his partner’s…

Felix’s jaw clenched and he had to twist his mouth to keep himself from saying anything. He tried coming up with a cover to ensure that Locus wouldn’t catch on to what had just happened. 

“See, that wasn’t so hard...sweetie.”

Without warning, he reached over and smacked his partner across the rear-end. 

Locus took a sharp breath and caught hold of Felix’s offending arm, bending the fingers backwards until they started to crack. 

“I’m going to break them, one by one, and then I’m going to break your ribs.”

“I’d like to see you try,” Felix retorted, sticking his tongue out when Locus applied more pressure on his fingers. 

“Decontamination complete.”

“Ah, don’t you just hate it when AIs ruin all the fun?”

Felix’s grin returned, and he fought the urge to let it drop until he could get away from the other mercenary. He stayed away from Locus for the rest of the night.


	6. Like a hole in the head

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “How long have you fucking known?”
> 
> “What?”
> 
> “How long, Locus? And you know exactly what I’m talking about so don’t you dare play stupid with me. It’s surprising how easy it is to put two and two together once you figure out what the connecting factor is. How. Long.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: no actual holes were made in anyone's head during this chapter. 
> 
> The next few chapters will probably go backwards to look at Locus and Felix's time in the UNSC again.

Felix burst into the room and crossed it in a matter of seconds, taking his helmet off and throwing it violently. He stood in front of his partner, taking shallow, ragged breaths, fists clenched, eyes burning. Locus looked up at him from his position on the bed. It was 5:00 am.

“Where have you been?”

Felix took a step back, giving himself sufficient room to gesture widely as he spoke.

“Why, are you concerned about where I go now? Wanna know what I’m doing? Maybe you’re worried that I might die? Or do you just want me as close as possible to you so you can kill me?”

Locus stood slowly, towering over his partner. The shorter man’s resolve did not falter.

“What are you talking about?”

Felix grabbed onto Locus’s shoulders with all the force he could muster and slammed him against the nearest wall. He reached for his knife and forced it against Locus’s throat until it drew blood. Felix watched the liquid make its way down his partner’s skin, tilting his head until Locus shifted, more out of boredom than discomfort.

“Are we going to move this along?”

Felix’s anger returned in full force.

“Remember when you fucking cut through my throat to shut me up?”

“And you want to reciprocate the favour now?”

“Actually, I have something better in mind,” the shorter man said, shoving his forearm underneath Locus’s chin to keep him pinned in place and trailing the knife down to Locus’s hip until the latter man was compelled to take action.

He forced Felix off him, knowing full well that the knife his partner was holding might be planted into his side but taking the risk nonetheless. It seemed that Felix had calculated for that eventuality however, because although he seized the opportunity and made as deep a cut as he could manage just above Locus’s hip, he immediately retracted his weapon and kept a careful hold of it even as he stumbled back.

They circled each other for a few seconds before Locus lunged for his partner and used the advantage of his height and weight to tackle him to the ground. He pinned him down carefully and grabbed onto his wrist, knocking it against the floor with considerable force until Felix lost his grip on his knife. Locus watched the knife slide away from reach before turning his attention back to the very angry merc. Briefly, he found himself wondering if anyone would be sent to check on the source of the noise.

“What do you want, Felix?”

Locus sounded patient, as if he was speaking to a child or an unruly student.

“I want to kill you. I want to make you regret ever choosing to follow me around.”

“ _I_ followed _you_ around? Would you like to reconsider that answer?”

Felix unsuccessfully fought against his constraint, spewing a list of increasingly incoherent curses that ended with a fairly clear “Fuck you!”

“That can be arranged.”

“Oh, oh, do you think this is funny Locus? Yeah, perfect time for you to make a fucking joke!” Felix’s tone was getting louder and more strained. He was stressed, tired, unprepared; in a state Locus had never seen him in before. “How long have you fucking known?”

“What?”

“How long, Locus? And you know exactly what I’m talking about so don’t you dare play stupid with me. It’s surprising how easy it is to put two and two together once you figure out what the connecting factor is. How. Long.”

The taller mercenary sighed, avoiding Felix’s gaze.

“Three months.”

“Three fucking months?! Three...three months...”

Felix relaxed, confusing Locus sufficiently to provide him with the wiggle room he needed to bite onto his partner’s forearm. Another struggle ensued, in which Locus managed to punch Felix hard enough to break his nose, but the latter man still ended up on top. He quickly gave the room a once over in search for his knife. It was too far to reach for. So he allowed Locus to throw him off in a bid to use the momentum to roll over and grab his weapon. Locus refused.

“What are you doing?”

“We’ve been working together for a while, Felix; I know most of your tricks.”

“Why then? Why didn’t you kill me when you had the chance? Why waste a perfectly good opportunity? Why are you letting me do this?”

“Because we’re stronger together. More efficient.”

Felix leaned down incredibly close to Locus’s face and put on a mock voice.

“Oh, but I thought Mr-Super-Soldier wanted to be the best soldier out there. To out-soldier all the other little soldiers, to be completely invincible.”

“If we work together—”

“Don’t give me that crap. There’s no logic to it. Unless someone knows about the project, they wouldn’t know what to look for. But if they do, if they know exactly where our pressure points are, we’re as dead together as we would be on our own. But if I kill you know, well, I’d eliminate my greatest potential threat. Do you understand how much freedom that entails? How much power? If I stayed away from other immortals, if I were sufficiently careful, no one would ever have a chance of finding out. Heck, Fisher was blown up twice, the second time at our hands and there’s still no way to know if she’s actually dead. So why, Locus? Why not take the golden ticket? The opportunity of a fucking lifetime?”

“Because I don’t want to be alone.”

Felix let go of Locus’s arms and straightened as if burned. He was not only speechless but seemed to have lost the ability to breathe. Tentatively, he stood, then, obviously against his better nature, extended a hand to Locus to help him up. His shoulders were slumped over, head down, gaze running frantically across the ground. He wasn’t looking for his weapon this time around. He was processing information. When he did finally look up he seemed confused, almost disillusioned.

“We could part ways if that—”

“Part ways,” Felix weighed the words, and concluded he wasn’t satisfied, “part ways? Just part—”

“Ways. Yes. I’m not killing you Felix. But if you think you are stronger alone...”

“Shut up,” the shorter mercenary had turned away from his partner but he lifted a hand to accentuate his command.

“I am getting very tired of you acting like a spoiled brat. Make up your mind.”

“I said shut up. Shut the hell up,” Felix turned, eyes dropping to Locus’s lips briefly.

Locus ran a hand through his hair, evidently exasperated, before he grabbed the back of Felix’s neck and pulled him in.

The kiss was, as expected, rough and verging on violent; but Felix wasn’t going to allow them to fall into their usual routine. He was completely callous with the way he undid Locus’s bodysuit, a few moves away from attempting to tear it to pieces. He unabashedly grabbed onto Locus’s cock and led him backwards towards the bed mumbling something or other about taking the lead this time around. Locus hadn’t been listening.

They never actually slept together after sex. It served no purpose. Besides, while Felix had a tendency to roll over and immediately lose consciousness, sleep wasn’t something that had come easily to Locus for a long time. 

Yet when he made a move to get off the bed this time, Felix reached out for his arm.

“You’re not done yet?” Locus asked.

“No.”

Felix shifted, moving onto his stomach and exposing his back to his partner. He tucked his hands under the pillow and rested his chin above it, staring straight at the wall as he spoke.

“If we make this deal you better fucking have my back.”

“With the way you rush head first into every disaster that presents itself I can’t make promises.”

“Then practice.”

Locus scoffed.

“Can I trust _you_?”

Felix moved his head to the side, looked up at his partner.

“No,” he shrugged. “But if you give me an order, I’ll follow it.”


End file.
